Outbursts in Sirhan Trial; Dodgers Promote Lasorda, February 27, 1969

Now those are some bell bottoms. If you don't remember them, ask your mom.

Nixon to address West German parliament. At left, more oil washes ashore near Santa Barbara, but it's unclear whether this is from the original spill or a new one. General Motors announces the largest recall in U.S. auto history. A defense attorney and Judge Herbert V. Walker warn Sirhan B. Sirhan to control his outbursts. Walker says that if Sirhan doesn't calm down he might be physically restrained in court. And officials release the names of five people who were killed by a mudslide that crashed onto a firehouse in Silverado Canyon where Orange County residents had sought shelter.

Kevin Thomas interviews Fritz Lang about Dr. Mabuse for a showing at UCLA. Inscribed on Lang's bar: "Takes a long freight train with a red caboose to carry my blues away." "When I invented 'The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse' it gave the chance to put all the Nazi slogans in the mouth of an insane criminal and kill him off."

The Dodgers' new Triple-A manager was a real fighter. "We had about eight real good brawls at Ogden last year," Tom Lasorda told The Times' Mitch Chortkoff. "I like a good scrapping team. ... We led the league in wins, fights and police escorts." Lasorda was headed to Spokane to take over the Dodgers' Pacific Coast League team, expected to be filled with such prospects as Bill Buckner, Steve Garvey (still considered a third baseman) and Bobby Valentine. Lasorda was no stranger to the PCL, having played in the league back when the Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars were feuding. Lasorda told Chortkoff about an incident pitching for the Angels against the Stars' Forrest Jacobs. "He was sore at me and he laid a bunt down the first-base line, " he said. "You've seen it so many times. The pitcher comes over to field the ball and the bunter runs him down. Only I played it a little different. Instead of going for the ball I threw a body block at Jacobs. All hell broke loose after that." Chortkoff had an interesting line about Lasoda's future: "There are some baseball people who believe that Lasorda will be the successor to Walter Alston as the Dodger manager--if, that is, he can control his temper." Lasorda's response? "I only know that I have to be myself. ... I want my team to develop a dislike for the opponents. That's the only way they'll play to their potential." --Keith Thursby

Found on EBay -- Mullet and Bluett

This postcard of the Mullen and Bluett store has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $3.99.

Matt Weinstock -- February 26, 1959

'Criminal' Confesses The lady admits her crime. The engine in her 1947 Mercury station wagon is inefficient. And when the APCD man stopped her a block from her home in Whittier and told her it was emitting 70% white smoke, she didn't fight it. Especially when he told her, "Don't worry, the first offense is usually a suspended fine." What made her angry was groping her way through the black smoke of two tanker diesels ahead of her on Painter Ave. on the way to the courthouse and hearing the judge's edict -- $25 or five days. And remembering that a nearby chemical plant whose fumes disabled three employees received several warnings before being cited. Anyway, the lady, mother of six children, who drives only 100 miles a month to school, church and stores, wants everyone to know she is slowly saving the money to get an engine overhaul so she will no longer be a smog menace. Below, these pages show the incredible tear-ups newspapers routinely used to make between editions. All in hot type, too. No wonder the third floor of The Times was mostly Linotype machines. This is unthinkable today.  Feb. 26, 1959, Late News Edition. The early runover. Feb. 26, 1959, Red Streak. And in the later edition. * * AS EVERYONE knows, McCall's is the magazine of Togetherness -- capital T. It so states on the cover. And what does it state inside, Mr. Anthony? (John J. Anthony, Channel 9, 5 p.m.) Well, on Page 24 there's an article titled "The First Year," dealing with the problems of newlyweds. On Page 48 there's Debbie Reynolds' "story." On Page 50 titled "The Disgrace of Hollywood," Leonard Slater has compiled a divorce chart of the movies' marriages which have gone kaput in the last 25 years (from 1934 through 1958). Grand total: 230. Of course, some like RitaHayworth, Mickey Rooney and Artie Shaw are multiple losers. However, there's a saver -- Agnes Sligh Turnbull's fiction story "And They Lived Happily Ever After." You can't help wondering if the McCall's people are kidding about Togetherness. Everyone else is. * * OUTCAST Too young to retire And too old to hire, Cut clean out of life By society's knife. --JOSEPH P. KRENGEL * * STOP the presses -- A group of incorrigible reporters were debating the question "Which hurts worse -- getting shot in the fracas or getting shot in the melee?" . . . A reminiscing editorialist recalled the time during Prohibition that he got a "two-pint raise" . . . A newsman found this note from a judge on his car parked in the Hall of Justice lot: "In trying to start your car, which was parked behind mine, I snapped off your turn indicator handle. Please get it fixed and send me the bill. I am sorry to cause you this trouble. This note is written because of my innate honesty and the old legal maxim of jurisprudence: Always be friendly with the press." THE WAY it's being told, a ticket seller at Santa Anita sat down with his colleagues in the shade of an old greenback tree, reached into his paper bag, unwrapped a sandwich and took a bite. He couldn't bite through, tried again, but still couldn't. He looked and found he'd been chewing on a thickness of valueless mutuel tickets. Farther down in the bag he found a note from his wife stating, "When you bring home money instead of these you'll get meat in your sandwiches." It's a variation of an old one, but I suppose these things could really happen twice. * * LOOSE ENDS -- Jim Zaillian of KNX reports spotting the auto license plate MUY 502, which in Espanol and LAPD parlance means very drunk driver . . . And two cars alongside at Sunset and Vine waiting for the signal change had the letters MYE and PYE . . . The youngster generation has a new way of telling time. Allan Williams, 16, went to a neighbor's house to watch TV last Saturday. Next morning, asked what time he got to bed, he replied, "Two shows after 'Gunsmoke.' "

Paul Coates -- Confidential File, February 26, 1959

Since Coates is ill (don't worry, he'll be back), here's Abby. I guess this is documented proof that people actually put lampshades on their heads at 1950s parties. I thought they only existed in the comics.

Dear 'Changeling' Fans

Dear "Changeling" fans, The Daily Mirror appreciates your interest and feedback. Some of you may wonder why your comments aren't posted. The reason is that the Daily Mirror is dedicated to not spreading misinformation and some of your posts have errors--really bad ones. I'm speaking specifically of a message by "Lost" from ISP 161.149.63.106, (Typepad's commenting keeps track of Internet addresses, so nobody@bugmenot.com doesn't really help you). In the same way, I don't post links to other sites of unknown or dubious accuracy. So "bloodygoryphotosofbodies.com" is never going to see the light of day. The answers to almost all your questions about Christine Collins are here. The best way to find them is a Google restrictive search like this: site:latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror "Christine Collins" And thanks for reading!

In the Theaters -- February 26, 1955

The 1950s -- Caught in a Flash

Photograph by Neil Clemans News photography as it was practiced in the 1950s.

The era of journalism when newspapers had easy access to celebrities, the police and just about anybody else lives again in Neil Clemans' " Picturing the '50s," a handsome, self-published book of crisp, large-format photos accompanied by Clemans' reminiscences. Clemans recalls learning the ropes as a photographer for the Valley Times and his adventures in the radio car of the Mirror-News. These were the years of posed pictures, when a photo of a pretty girl could sell the most meager story. When it was hot, you fried an egg on the sidewalk or got a picture of strippers cooling off in an alley. When the Western Assn. of Tree Surgeons got publicity by voting on the loveliest limbs in the land: Ann Miller, Betty Grable, Joan Crawford and Cyd Charisse.  "Picturing the '50s" is loaded with familiar names (at least to anyone who has studied the history of Los Angeles and its newsmen). Clemans mentions reporters Sid Hughes, Dial Torgerson and Paul Coates, and photographers such as Felix Pagel , Delmar Watson and Bill Beebe (who was still going strong the last time I saw him). The books fits nicely with Rob Leicester Wagner's "Red Ink White Lies." It's easy to be distracted by the photos and ignore the text, but that would be a mistake because Clemans' simple narrative is a first-person account of vivid experiences like the Jan. 22, 1956, wreck of the San Diegan, the first incident in the demise of the cozy relationship between the press and the LAPD. (Clemans says he had no problem with the police that night, although Delmar Watson's brother Coy of CBS complained to the LAPD and Times photographer Robert O. Ritchie said officers roughed him up). More notable in some ways are the pictures Clemans didn't take: A young wife caught by police having sex in a car with her boyfriend while her husband worked the night shift, and Judy Garland as her life crashed and burned. Clemans also adds his voice to the dispute over which reporter was first to the scene of the Black Dahlia killing on Jan. 15, 1947. Although he wrongly credits the Examiner for coining the name "Black Dahlia" (which originated in a Long Beach drugstore), he notes Will Fowler's tale that he and Pagel were the first to arrive and says: "Other newsmen challenged his contention and were close to doing Fowler bodily harm for making such a bold claim."  Photograph by Neil Clemans Marilyn Monroe cheers during a game at the Coliseum. And yes, it was posed. There are triumphs and pictures that got away (one year, Clemans came back from the Academy Awards with 60 blank negatives because the back shutter on his Speed Graphic was closed--ouch!). He also describes covering the beatnik coffeehouses of the late 1950s using a Rolleiflex and available light with a shutter speed of half a second. For all you kids who have only shot digital pictures, that takes steady nerves. The famous names of the 1950s are here: Debbie Reynolds, Art Aragon, Cesar Romero, Lana Turner, Marilyn Monroe and, of course, Elvis. At $76.95, "Picturing the '50s" is not an inexpensive book. But if you're in the market for candid pictures of a young Elvis Presley, this could be for you. And then there's Tempest Storm.

Found on EBay -- Williams and Walker

The sheet music of "You're in the Right Church but the Wrong Pew," as performed by Williams and Walker, has been listed on EBay. Bidding starts at $12.

Matt Weinstock -- February 25, 1959

Closing the Books In the last week two big downtown bookmakers have folded their form charts and quietly stolen away. The gendarmes didn't knock them over. The longshots at Santa Anita did. To stay in business a bookie has to figure on 20% -- $20 of every $100 wagered. Normally around 33% of the favorites, or chalk horses, win, paying short prizes. This has been especially true at the big Arcadia slot machine. But not this semester. The longshots have been tromping in like crazy. One bookie was hit for $3,000 last week by an uncooperative nag which came from nowhere. IN THE OLD DAYS when a bookie got loaded up on a longshot, he could lay off some of the money so he wouldn't get hurt. Now he can't. The lay-off spots aren't around any more. And he can't refuse the action or the players will become irritable. So, down the drain. Naturally this distressing situation is working a hardship on beleaguered bettors. When a bookie is hard to find, a player, especially one with a hot tip, faces the terrible prospect of going out to the track and getting clobbered for the full ride, maybe even being refused admittance because his tie isn't on straight. Man, it's murder. * * DRIVING THROUGH a beach town, Jo Meade commented on the unimaginative street names and wondered if they'd ever be changed to something more colorful. "I'll start them out," Tom, her husband, said, "with Squid Roe." * * EVERYONE doubtless has noticed how everything's going Italiano these days -- clothes, shoes, film start, small cars, cuisine. Well, Dana Burkhalter puts it this way: With all this Italian cooking, I guess They'll soon call our city Lasagna-les, The name doesn't matter, I'd like, never fear, To own a few pizzas of property here. * * A MAN I KNOW went to the freezer to get some hamburger for dinner and found some freshly washed clothes. Holding up his wife's bra he demanded, "What's this doing in the freezer?" Surprised at such ignorance, she said she kept them there until she was ready to iron them. The cold, she explained, prevented mildew. Logical, but a little depressing. * * THE WAY Lou Huston tells it, Hamlet, tortured by inner conflicts, attempted to resolve his hostilities by the wanton slaying of inoffensive donkeys and a particular species of bird. One day, as the unhappy prince stalked through the garden at Elsinore, terminating the lives of the beasts and birds, he was observed by his mentor, Polonius, who admonished him, "Neither a burro oriole-ender be." * * ONLY IN BURBANK -- Mrs. M. Belden's son, a first-grader, came home from school bursting with the news that there was a new boy in class named Felicio, which, he said, means "drop dead." Knowing the name means happiness, she asked where he got such an idea. Came the reply, "Well, I asked him what his name meant and he said, 'Drop dead!' " * * AROUND TOWN -- A Duarte lady, who has just received a Christmas card from a great aunt in Havana postmarked Dec. 10, 1958, asks, "How manana can you get?" . . . A family on Golden Gate Ave. near Sunset Blvd. is beginning to think autos don't like the two trees in front of the house. On Lincoln's Birthday a Chevy crashed into one and on the Washington Birthday holiday the other was fiercely attacked by a Plymouth. The trees fought back resolutely but hardly made a dent . . . Overheard by Frank Barron in Beverly Hills: "If I put as much money into payments as I put in parking meters my car would have been paid for by now."

Paul Coates -- Confidential File, February 25, 1959

In the Theaters -- February 25, 1952

Centered

Random Shot -- 1911

Los Angeles Times file photo I found this picture of the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Building and thought it would be fun to explore. It's from about 1911.

On closer examination, we find an interesting array of transportation: Horse-drawn vehicles, autos, pedestrians, a streetcar and (at least I think) bicycles on the other side of the streetcar. It's a bit hard to tell, but the sign on the streetcar apparently says "University & Central." Five modes of transportation and no traffic control.

All-night banking was evidently popular, according to The Times. There certainly are a lot of chimneys on that building.

Maybe it's the angle, but it looks as though the car's steering wheel is in the center rather than on the left. Maybe some expert on horseless carriages can help us out. It also looks like there's a toolbox on the left running board. What's this? No spare tires in the front fenders or on the back--notice, no bumper.  Also notice the old-style streetlight. I wonder what the horse is tied to to keep it from walking (or running) away. Sometimes there were big iron rings in the sidewalk.

Another touring car--notice that there's no traffic control at this corner.

And here are some ladies out for a stroll in their hats and long skirts. View Larger Map And this is the building at Spring and 6th streets today.